Motivating employees

Reinforcement Interventions


Figure 8. Reinforcement Methods
Reinforcement theory describes four interventions to modify employee behavior.

Two of these are methods of increasing the frequency of desired behaviors while

the remaining two are methods of reducing the frequency of undesired behaviors.
Positive reinforcement is a method of increasing the desired behavior. Positive reinforcement involves making sure that behavior is met with positive consequences. Praising an employee for treating a customer respectfully is an example of positive reinforcement. If the praise immediately follows the positive behavior, the employee will see a link between behavior and positive consequences and will be motivated to repeat similar behaviors.